By Julie Enzweiler, Nielsen Online
Total North American auto sales are down 32% from October 2007 to October 2008 with November’s sales forecast not showing much improvement.
As the stock market continues its downward spiral and economic conditions deteriorate, consumers are talking online about holding tight to their wallets and are less likely to make a big purchase such as a vehicle.
The number of consumers that were seeking vehicle information on sites like AOL Autos, MSN Autos and Yahoo Autos began to decline around the June – July timeframe, which is exactly …

By Emily Heitkamp, Nielsen Online
When details of the global financial crisis overtook the headlines in mid-September, consumers and brands began assessing their position in the economy and strategizing for the downturn. Retailers have reacted by announcing plans to offer deep discounts for the holidays, from high-end to mass-merchandise. Some have rolled out deals in advance of Black Friday. With reports of more and better deals from retailers and a bleak economic outlook for consumers, it would be natural to assume that consumers are hungry to take advantage of opportunities to …

American consumers will continue to shift their gift buying online this holiday season, citing convenience, time saving, and price according to Nielsen Online. Amid the current economic downturn, 53% of consumers cite price as a reason to buy online, compared with 46% last year. However, convenience continues to trump price as 76% of consumers cite the ability to shop 24 hours a day and 74% cite time saving as key factors for choosing online shopping.
The results are based on a Nielsen Online survey, conducted November 6-11, intended to gauge online …

According to a new report from Nielsen Online, 12-17 year olds experience less advertising on the Web than older adults. The analysis of online advertising clutter showed that Internet users 65+ were exposed to the most ad clutter, while kids 2-11 experienced the least.
Online Advertising Clutter Exposure by Age Group
Source: Nielsen Online, Custom Advertising Clutter Analysis, U.S. August 2008

According to Nielsen Online, Google Search accounted for more than half of all online searches in the month of September with an estimated 4.8 billion queries. Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and Ask.com rounded out the top five.

RANK
Provider
Searches (000)
% of Searches

#
All Searches
8,089,226
100.00%

1
Google Search
4,825,556
59.70%

2
Yahoo! Search
1,464,478
18.10%

3
MSN/Windows Live Search
953,504
11.80%

4
AOL Search
335,187
4.10%

5
Ask.com Search
178,217
2.20%

6
My Web Search
53,825
0.70%

7
Comcast Search
51,935
0.60%

8
AT&T Worldnet Search
30,086
0.40%

9
NexTag Search
17,775
0.20%

10
Dogpile.com Search
17,574
0.20%

Source: Nielsen Online, MegaView Search -September 2008

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Clickz reports that the number of active home Internet users increased in August in eight of the 10 countries tracked by Nielsen Online.
Complete data on home Internet users is below.

Country
July 2008
August 2008
% Growth

United States
152,690,056
153,144,180
0.3%

Japan
49,049,579
50,128,725
2.2%

Germany
36,773,740
37,795,221
3.74%

United Kingdom
28,112,820
28,751,970
2.27%

France
26,151,352
26,984,002
3.18%

Brazil
23,715,159
24,331,212
2.6%

Italy
19,561,913
20,646,132
5.54%

Spain
15,782,617
15,707,229
-0.48%

Australia
11,452,652
11,169,844
-2.47%

Switzerland
3,762,984
3,771,663
0.23%

Source: Nielsen Online (August 1 – 31, 2008).

MarketWatch and The Los Angeles Times reported that NBC will become the first television network to make online streaming data available for specific programs.
The data, which will be released via Nielsen Online’s VideoCensus service, will allow advertisers to compare NBC.com’s audience numbers, show by show.
The move could help to make advertisers “more comfortable” with online video advertising, the LA Times reports.